Starved Beast

"What is there to say?" I stared up despairingly at the hanging stalactites through wet, misty eyes and I felt my soul inexorably drifting back to the lake.

"I ... I don't believe you, monsieur. Tell me, what are you hiding?"

Hiding? Only that Isabelle had gone to the willows to bathe. She was a rich lady and rich ladies always went there because it was secluded. The area was inside the convent wall, out of bounds, and in any case, there was a nun to keep guard, Ann Marie.

So, there I was, sixteen years of age, an orphan with a brother and three sisters to support. I was definitely a man, and like most young men I was curious about women, and so I slipped two coins into my pretty nun's palm and I slipped past her, down the narrow descending path towards the lake.

I knew her, you see. She was not much older than me and we'd grown up together in the village and so I could take liberties that she wouldn't have permitted in anyone else, and therefore I knew that she wasn't a good, holy ki